Charley Walters: Ponder's time as a Viking may end soon

The NFL trade deadline is Oct. 29. Within the next 16 days, Christian Ponder's future with the Vikings should be decided.

If fellow quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman are healthy, Minnesota is expected to try to see what it can get for Ponder, who lost his starting job to Cassel after an 0-3 start, coupled with Cassel's winning performance over Pittsburgh in London.

If Cassel, 31, or Freeman, 25, who is expected to become the Vikings' starter before long, gets hurt, Ponder is expected to remain in Minnesota through the end of the season as the third-string QB. But there's no chance that Ponder will be with the Vikings in 2014.

Freeman, who joined the Vikings a week ago, probably isn't ready to play against Carolina on Sunday, should Cassel get hurt, so Ponder would be Cassel's immediate replacement.

The Vikings' quarterback situation is expected to be determined on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, management needs to determine whether Freeman, who has a prorated $3 million deal this season, will be the quarterback going into 2014.

Ponder's guaranteed contract is relatively affordable -- $1.3 million this season and $1.8 million next year. The Vikings might be able to get a fifth-round draft pick in a trade for the 25-year-old, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2011 draft.

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It would be surprising if the Vikings released Ponder now, especially because he could end up with a team within the division, say, for example, as a Green Bay Packers backup. Ponder would seem a better backup QB than what any of the teams in the North Division have.

If Ponder gets cut by the Vikings, he's not free to sign immediately with any team he wants. Because he has fewer than four years' experience, he would have to go through waivers. So the Vikings probably would prefer trading him to an AFC team rather than within the NFC so he couldn't come back and embarrass them this season.

Jacksonville would seem a likely suitor for Ponder, who starred at Florida State. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who cut Freeman, as well as the New York Jets also would seem a consideration for Ponder as a backup.

It seems this also will be the final season as a Viking for pass rusher Jared Allen, 31, who said there have been no contract extension talks for him, though last week the Vikings signed fellow defensive end Brian Robison, 30, to a $28.3 million, four-year extension.

Allen, who is being paid $14.3 million this season and can become a free agent after the season, says he's healthy, but the Vikings might feel he's had too much wear and tear after 10 NFL seasons. Allen's return, however, could depend on whether the Vikings are able to re-sign defensive end Everson Griffen, 25, who can become a free agent at season's end. If Griffen re-signs, the return of Allen is unlikely.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Vikings return to London for a regular-season game in 2015, a year before the team moves into its new stadium in Minneapolis.

Freeman, who with Tampa Bay was in the same NFC South Division as Carolina, was to share his insight for Sunday's game at the Metrodome.

"In regards to their defense, their whole identity, what they try to do, their strengths, weaknesses, things of that nature," he said.

Apple Valley senior point guard prodigy Tyus Jones has dropped Kentucky from college consideration and has just Kansas, Duke, Minnesota and Baylor remaining.

Jones will visit Kansas next weekend and Duke the following weekend. He has not scheduled an official visit to Minnesota. He has visited Baylor.

The 6-foot-1 171-pounder, who plans to commit to a college by mid-November, just returned from the USA training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Jones is getting straight A's in school.

Program donors and former players were invited to coach Richard Pitino's Gophers men's basketball scrimmage Saturday at Williams Arena.

Hall of famer and former Viking Chris Doleman will appear on the Golf Channel's "Big Break" on Tuesday evening in Puerto Rico.

NFL Films is producing a documentary on Hall of Fame former Viking Cris Carter.

Ex-Vikings QB Sean Salisbury has joined Yahoo! Sports as a talk-show host.

Gov. Mark Dayton will host the WNBA champion Lynx at a breakfast Monday at the Governor's Residence in St. Paul.

Robert Downs, Chris Lenius, Erik Paulsen, Kim Hanson, Jason Pelowski and Eric Welter are new members of the Chaska High Hall of Fame.

The Minnesota United soccer team has hired Andrea Yoch, who spent nine years at KARE Channel 11 as vice president for business development.

The Gophers men's hockey team has 14 players who have been drafted by NHL teams.

Former Minneapolis Community and Technical College men's basketball coach Ron Gates will be a basketball assistant at Concordia-St. Paul.

The Twins' annual Diamond Awards banquet will be Jan. 23 at Target Field, the night before TwinsFest begins at the ballpark.

Flip Saunders, the Timberwolves' president of basketball operations, will be featured speaker at the Dunkers' breakfast Tuesday at the Minneapolis Club.

Chris Coste, a utility player for the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, will become the baseball coach at alma mater Concordia after next season, when Cobbers coach Bucky Burgau, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's all-time winning coach, will move to assistant.

Former North Star Ted Hampson, 76, is scouting for the Vancouver Canucks. Ex-Gophers hockey captain Pat Westrum is scouting for the Montreal Canadiens.

Former St. Paul Academy soccer coach Buzz Lagos will be the analyst for Fox Sports North's Oct. 19 Minnesota United FC telecast against Carolina, as well as KSTC Channel 45's broadcast against Fort Lauderdale.

Macalester College's 1961-62 and 1962-63 MIAC men's hockey championship teams were to be inducted into the Scots' Hall of Fame on Saturday.

DON'T PRINT THAT

Top Twins prospect outfielder Byron Buxton, 19, after chopping a double over third base in his first at-bat Friday, struck out four straight times for the Glendale Desert Dogs in a 5-1 victory over Scottsdale. Buxton is batting .200 after three games and 15 at-bats in the accelerated Arizona Fall League.

Another highly regarded Twins prospect, second baseman Eddie Rosario, had two hits, including a double, a stolen base and three runs batted in. He is batting .300 after two games and 10 at-bats. First baseman Max Kepler is batting .200 after two games and 10 at-bats.

Alex Meyer, acquired by the Twins from the Washington Nationals for Denard Span, pitched three innings for Glendale, giving up five hits and three earned runs, and has a 9.00 earned-run average after one game. The Twins' Zack Jones, who has a 27.00 ERA, gave up six hits in 1 2/3 innings in two games, although he struck out the side Friday. Trevor May, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Ben Revere trade, struck out one in one scoreless inning.

A questionable tax shelter that former Vikings owner Red McCombs and partner Gary Woods allegedly used to offset financial gains has been challenged by the Internal Revenue Service, and the case is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Reuters reported. The IRS is charging McCombs and Woods for unpaid taxes plus a 40 percent penalty.

A new deal between the PGA of America and NBC Sports Group means the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National will be televised on NBC, along with practice rounds from the Chaska course.

Ex-Twins infielder Chip Hale, who is a bench coach for the Oakland A's, is getting mentioned for the Seattle Mariners' manager job.

The Atlanta Braves, whom the Twins defeated in all four Metrodome games en route to winning the 1991 World Series, are among customers who have purchased a "Domer" duffel bag, which is constructed from the inner layer of the Metrodome roof that collapsed under snow in 2010.

Vikings odds to win the Super Bowl are 150-to-1, according to Bovada-Las Vegas. Same odds for the Carolina Panthers, whom the Vikings host Sunday.

OVERHEARD

Vikings middle linebacker Erin Henderson, asked if he has seen a combination of strength and speed like that of Carolina QB Cam Newton: "Every day in the NFL."